Week of January 25

“The believer essentially becomes one who hopes . . . His future depends utterly and entirely on the outcome of the risen Lord’s course, for he has staked his future on the future of Christ” (HCBC, Jürgen Moltmann). Luke 19:45-21:4, which encompasses our focal passage, provides us with a view of the final confrontations Jesus had in His earthly ministry. Jesus’ rule will be radically different, and I suppose there is no better way to determine where a person stands on this claim than to see in what and where he or she invests money—a god of this temporal age (Matthew 6:19-24, esp. v. 24).

Jesus demonstrates that true wealth is not so much about the sound of clanging coins in an offering box, but the sounding call of God that echoes throughout one’s life. Let’s invite Him to confront us wherever we need it today!

Our context here includes a condemnation of hypocritical scribes (20:45-47) and praise for a poverty-stricken widow’s simple, giving spirit (21:1-4). Hers was a sacrificial faith. We would say, on this side of the cross, that hers was a resurrection faith, because it embodied the type of sacrifice Jesus made on the cross—all in—so that His life would abide in all (Galatians 2:20). Supreme value for her was placed upon that which the temporal could never touch, and Jesus commends her right priorities (21:3). Jesus’ words stunned the disciples whose values had yet to be radically changed. The resurrection would be the catalyst for their total commitment. Do you wonder why this little narrative is in Luke’s gospel? I do!

One wonders what it was that Jesus saw or heard that led to this statement at this critical juncture in His last days before being arrested. Could it have been how the rich folks gave their offerings? Perhaps they skipped the coins into the box like a ten-year-old would skip rocks across a lake. The Greek word is a participle and can have the meaning of hurling or letting something fall. They certainly offered their gifts and prayers for show (20:47). However, I think Jesus focused on them here because this was a way to demonstrate publicly what they had shown themselves to be privately in their confrontation with Him (20:45ff.). Let that soak in. We often prize the size of the gift rather than the intent in the giver’s heart. This moment was the object lesson, and it must have had its full impact on the disciples later, for Luke records the event.

The woman’s gift surely led the disciples to think, “What on earth is two lepta good for?” Do you see their evaluative (ethics) judgment? Their way of seeing the world, based upon material things, exposed their lack of awareness of a Kingdom of God worldview. They measured her worth based upon the size of the gift. These were the smallest coins in use and worth only a fraction of a day’s wage. When they (or we) think like that, then an earthly economy has rolled over our minds like a cool and dense fog. It’s hard to spark a flame of eternal glory inside a damp brain (cf. Acts 2:3)! Jesus shines the light of glory on her when He noted that her extreme poverty was evident in the extraordinary nature of her gift (Matthew 5:3; note, poverty is both physical and spiritual). She gave to whom she had placed her hope!

Please allow me to open a leaf from my own life’s journal. I recall a time in my life where I wanted more than anything to honor the Lord by becoming a professional athlete because, as I thought, folks would listen more closely to the witness of a star football or baseball player. Of course, as I think back on that period of my life, I could not run fast, throw far, or at times hit something the size of a beach ball. Well, it appears that I have digressed. Nevertheless, I will never forget sitting in the locker room before a football game and, as I leaned over to pull my socks up and tuck them inside my game pants, it became plain to me that I was all in with my plans for God’s call, but not yet for Him in all my plans. Football would end eventually, but He and His Kingdom would never end. I chose that night, even though there were twists and turns ahead, to pursue the call that would last for all eternity.

Let me see. How may I apply this to all our lives? We all are to live as a dirt-poor woman who gives and serves forward toward the One in whom we’ve placed our hope! Is every act of our daily lives given (and giving) toward our resurrection hope? May it be so!

1. Onto what plot of land—earthly or eternal—have you staked your claim? One sure way to determine what or who you cannot live without is to imagine what pains you the most to give up. Temporal sphere? Eternity? Now, invite the Lord to step in an audit your level of sacrifice, and I am not referring only to financial sacrifice. Check the value of your coming inheritance (cf. 1 Peter 1:3-5). 

2. For Families: The story of the widow’s offering is one all ages find fascinating. I sometimes wish I could have been there, too, to see her and watch Jesus speak about her and the crowd’s reactions.

Click the link below and watch the story with your children. Then ask them to imagine what the lady looked like. Was she young or old? Short or tall? Fresh-faced or careworn? What kind of clothes did she wear? Where did she live, and did she have enough to eat and pay her bills? 

Let your children answer these questions and see if they have questions of their own. Then ask your kids to dress up and act out the story while you video it. Explain that Jesus loved her, and said her faithfulness and hope in Christ was a model we all should follow. It pleases Jesus for us to give all that we have, ourselves most of all. Click here to let your children view the story: The Widow and her Gift to God.

May your paths be straight,
Larry C. Ashlock